Moonflower Murders: A Novel

Melissa loves her pale blue Mark VI Bentley almost as much as she loves Kimba. She wishes it were not raining so she could drive with the top down.

Melissa named her 19th-century hotel after one of her films. Its managers, Lance and Maureen Gardner, once ran the profitable village pub, the Red Lion. Melissa tells the couple she is bringing in a team of accountants from London to check the books. She opens a letter that has arrived for her and recognizes the lilac paper. The sender writes regularly, claiming to be her “number-one fan” (258). This time, the letter’s tone is accusatory, berating Melissa for not appearing in any recent films. After Melissa leaves, Maureen panics. However, Lance assures his wife that he will solve the issue.

Meanwhile, an attractive young man named Algernon Marsh is speeding in his distinctive car: a right-hand drive, cream-colored Peugeot. He is still drunk from the alcohol he consumed during lunch at the golf club. When Algernon and his sister Samantha lost their parents during World War II, they moved in with their then-unmarried aunt, Joyce. Shortly afterward, Algernon served a three-month prison sentence for affray or fighting in public. After his release, he took several jobs, eventually becoming an estate agent and then a property developer. Algernon uses his good looks and charm to persuade older women to invest in his company, Sun Trap Holdings. He has convinced 30 clients, including Melissa James, to invest in non-existent properties in Saint-Tropez. However, Melissa recently called him, demanding to sell her shares. Consequently, he owes Melissa £100,000. Algernon looks at his watch and hits a pedestrian. He gets out of the car and concludes the man is dead. Another car passes but does not stop. Already disqualified from driving, Algernon knows he will likely go to jail if caught. He gets into the Peugeot and drives away.

Algernon’s sister, Samatha Collins, has received a letter revealing she is the sole beneficiary of her late Aunt Joyce’s estate. Joyce married a multimillionaire later in life, and Samantha’s husband, Leonard, speculates that they may be rich. Leonard is a doctor, and the Collins family lives in a large, down-at-heel house next to St. Daniel’s church. Samantha is a devoted wife, mother, and churchgoer. She reflects that Joyce never forgave Algernon when he went to prison but insists that she will share the inheritance with her brother. Leonard advises her not to tell Algernon yet.

In the hotel’s parking lot, Melissa is confronted by Simon Cox. Simon is a Latvian businessman and wants Melissa to star as Eleanor of Aquitaine in his first movie project, The Queen’s Ransom. Melissa initially agreed to the role but has decided Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, Dial M for Murder, will be better for her career. When Melissa tells Simon she has changed her mind, he is furious, claiming she has financially ruined him. The hotel receptionist, Nancy Mitchell, watches the altercation and sees Melissa and Simon drive off. However, Nancy is preoccupied by the shocking news that she is pregnant. After revealing her pregnancy to the father, she received an envelope containing £60 and the address of a London doctor. Nancy is furious and intends to make him pay.

At Clarence Keep, Phyllis Chandler waits for Melissa to return with the Bentley. She hears a car stop nearby but there is no sign of her employer. Walking down a corridor lined with photographs of the village, Phyllis notices something amiss.

Francis Pendleton also hears a car while waiting for his wife’s return. The house is filled with mementos from Melissa’s films, and he takes a cigarette from a silver box engraved with MGM’s logo. Francis’s father, Lord Pendleton, cut him off when he married Melissa. Consequently, his future is dependent on his wife. Francis reexamines the letter he found in the wastepaper basket. Written by Melissa to an unknown man, it states that they must reveal their love to the world and be together. Francis plans to confront Melissa when she returns.

Later that evening, Detective Chief Inspector Edward Hare takes a call informing him that Melissa James has been murdered. Hare is about to retire and reflects that if he can solve the case, it will be a good note on which to end his career.

Atticus Pünd thinks about a recent professional success: the case of the Ludendorff Diamond. After attending a party, the multimillionaire Charles Pargeter and his wife Elaine discovered their home had been broken into. They were accompanied by a friend, John Berkeley, who was staying with them. The Pargeters kept the priceless Ludendorff Diamond and other valuables in a safe that could only be opened with a sophisticated combination lock and a key that was with Charles Pargeter at all times. Entering the house, they found that the safe, which was in their walk-in closet, was open and empty.

Charles Pargeter told Pünd that John Berkeley advised him not to go near the safe so the evidence would be preserved. John then took him downstairs and told Elaine to phone the police. Two police officers examined the safe’s key and asked for the combination. Reviewing the scene, Pünd noticed a tear in the wallpaper near the walk-in closet. He also discovered that John Berkeley and the detectives who attended the crime scene had financial difficulties. Pünd worked out that the detectives were in league with John Berkeley. When the Pargeters left for the party, the detectives broke into the house, concealed the safe behind a theatrical flat, and placed a replica safe in front of it with the door open. When called to the scene, the detectives asked for the combination to the real safe, took the key, and opened it while the Pargeters were downstairs. However, they tore the wallpaper when they removed the dummy safe.

Pünd gives a talk at the Goldsmiths’ Hall entitled “Crime and Punishment.” He expresses his opposition to capital punishment and offers the opinion that due to recent wrongful convictions, the death sentence will soon be abolished. Afterward, Pünd discusses the speech with his new secretary, Miss Madeline Cain, who says that banning capital punishment would allow murderers to go unpunished. Then Miss Cain shows Pünd a letter from Edgar Schultz, Melissa James’s New York agent. Later that day, Pünd takes a transatlantic call from Schultz, who offers to pay him a generous sum to solve Melissa’s murder. Pünd agrees but uneasily reflects that it is the first time he has accepted a case by telephone.

Atticus Pünd and Miss Cain travel to the Moonflower Hotel in the village of Tawleigh-on-the-Water. Pünd’s assistant reads A Daughter’s a Daughter by Mary Westmacott on the train.

Pünd meets DCI Hare, who explains that Melissa James’s murder occurred between 6:28 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. Melissa left the Moonflower Hotel at 5:40 p.m. and returned home at 6 p.m. Her husband Francis briefly talked with her before leaving at 6:15 p.m. for a performance of The Marriage of Figaro. At 6:18 p.m., the Chandlers heard Kimba bark, suggesting the arrival of a stranger. Phyllis and Eric then left at 6:25 p.m. in Melissa’s Bentley. At 6:28 p.m., Melissa called Dr. Collins in a distressed and frightened state. Dr. Collins arrived at Clarence Keep at 6:45 p.m. and found Melissa in her bedroom, strangled to death with the telephone cord. The telephone was torn from the wall, and Melissa had two sets of ligature marks around her neck.

DCI Hare states that Francis is the prime suspect. However, the businessman Simon Cox had a heated conversation with Melissa outside the Moonflower Hotel before she left. Cox claims that he went for a walk afterward but has no alibi. Algernon Marsh is also a suspect, as he had a close relationship with Melissa and was involved in her finances.

Pünd and Hare question Simon Cox, who claims he walked along the beach to Appledore after speaking to Melissa. Miss Cain interrupts, saying she grew up in Appledore and walking along the beach at that time of day is impossible as the tide is in. Cox then admits that he was furious with Melissa and drove to Clarence Keep, intending to speak to her again. He arrived 20 minutes before Melissa and parked out of sight. After Melissa returned, Cox went to the door, but he heard a woman accusing another person of disgusting behavior. Cox overheard the woman say “something about the Moonflower being crooked” and “that if Melissa found the truth, they would have to kill her” (338). He changed his mind about confronting Melissa and left. Pünd concludes that Simon Cox is telling the truth. Afterward, Madeline admits that she invented the story about living in Appledore, as Cox was clearly lying.

Atticus Pünd, DCI Hare, and Miss Cain visit Clarence Keep. Francis’s green Austen-Healey and an old Morris Minor are parked outside. Dr. Collins emerges from the house, revealing he has given Francis Pendleton a tranquilizer. Francis tells the detectives that Melissa suspected the Gardners of fraud and intended to sell the hotel once she got to the bottom of the matter. He denies that he and Melissa argued before he left for the opera. Pünd concludes that Francis genuinely loved his wife.

Miss Cain is effusive in her admiration of Clarence Keep. Noting the movie posters that line the walls, she is puzzled by a poster of The Wizard of Oz signed by actor Bert Lahr, observing that Melissa did not star in the film. During an inspection of Melissa’s bedroom, Miss Cain almost faints as she stands by the writing bureau, knocking the letters to the floor. She quickly recovers, collecting up the letters and handing them to Pünd.

Hare reveals that three tear-soaked tissues were found at the murder scene: two in Melissa’s bedroom and one in the downstairs living room by the second telephone. Pünd speaks to the Chandlers, revealing they were overheard on the night of Melissa’s death. Eric confirms that Melissa thought the Gardners’ business practices might be “crooked.” Meanwhile, Phyllis claims she was angry with Eric for failing to perform his duties. She states that her son is a disappointment, unlike his war hero father. After the detectives leave, Eric is anxious. His mother makes it clear he must face the consequences of his actions alone.